Rowlock



m Model.)

J. SNOWMAN.

ROWLOGK.

No. 287,971( Patented Nov. 6, 1883.

WITNESSES A uyww/w.

ATTORNEYS.

N. PETEIIE. Phetnruflwgaphsr. Wawhinglon. D C- UNITED STATES PATENT Orino- JOHN SNOWMAN, OF YVELD, MAINE.

RowLocK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 287,971, dated November 6, 188

Application filed April 26, 18 83. (No model.)

To a-ZZ whmn it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OHN SNOWMAN, of Weld, in the county of Franklin and State of Maine, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rowlocks, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to rowlock devices for supporting cars on the gunwale of a boat; and the invention consists of a collar or sleeve to receive the bodyof the oar within it, and having an eye for connection to the thole-pin, and a screw or equivalent device adapted to pass into a socket or aperture of the oar, forlocking the car against rotationin the sleeve or releasing the our to rotate axially and freely in the sleeve for feathering the oar on the return stroke, the car being fitted with fixed collars to prevent its lengthwise movement through the sleeve,

The invention includes, also, a novel construction of the thole-pin in open-eye form, to

facilitate the adjustment of the eye of the carsleeve to the tholepin and prevent displacement of the our therefrom when in use, all as hereinafter fully described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both the figures.

Figure 1 represents in perspective view my improvements fitted to the car and boat. and

- Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of an ear in part and its connected sleeve.

On an oar, A, of any approved style or size, I fit loosely the collar or sleeve 13 between stops 0, which may be in the ring form shown,,or may consist of any suitable pins or other detents fixed to the car at the ends of the sleeve B, to prevent endwise movement of the car through the sleeve, while permitting the free axial rotation of the oar in the sleeve.

Cis an eye or eyebolt formed on or fitted rigidly in the sleeve-B, for engaging any suitable thole-pin fitted to the gunwale d of aboat, D; and E is a screw fitted by its threads into a tapped hole, preferably in the center of the length of the sleeveB, and adapted to enter an aperture of the oar A, or the aperture 6 of a metallic socket-piece, f, set in the car, for its better protection from wear by the inserted end of the screw.

. With the screw E turned back and free from turned axially in the sleeve B for feathering on the return-stroke, and with the stop a removed from either end of the sleeve the oar may also have limited lengthwise movement through the sleeve; but Iprefer to use both end stops, a, for axial movement of the car only when'the screw E is disengaged from the car; and with the end of the screw inserted in the aperture 6 or in the car the oar will be locked against axial movement in the sleeve. The car A may thus be released from or locked to the sleeve 13 at will, to accommodate it to the experience or' preference of the rower.

My improved thole-pin device consists of a pin or stud, G, provided with a screw to enter the gunwale cl of the boat, or with a foot-plate, to be secured by separate screws to the top of the gunwale, the pin having its upper portion bent spirally in the vertical plane to form an open eye, H, with the end I of the pin at suitable distance from either side of its body Gto permit passing the eye 0 of sleeve 13 over the point I to the working position for the car, as in Fig. 1, which may easily and quickly be done, and when the car is so adjusted it will be held secure against displacement from the thole-pin by any ordinary use of the oar.

Any approved form of spring-pressed sliding bolt may be substituted for the lockingscrew E i'fdesired. d

It is evident that my improved rowlock devices are simple in construction and may easily be applied to any size or style of row-boats or cars, and that any broken parts may readily be replaced, and that the facilities afforded for locking or releasing the oar to and from the sleeve and the secure attachment of the sleeve and car to the thole-pin make the improvementboth effective and desirable in use.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A rowlock constructed substantially as herein shown and described, and consisting of a sleeve held loosely on the car, and carrying a screw or equivalent device for locking the sleeve to the car, and an eye for engaging the thole-pin by passage over and through the open eye or loop-head of the thole-pin, as set forth.

2. The combination, with an oar provided with a sleeve in which the car is free to rotate, said sleeve having an eye to engage a tholepin, and means, substantially as described, to

keep the oar from slipping endwise through the sleeve, of an adjustable locking pin in the sleeve, whereby the oar may be secured to its sleeve at any desired feathering angle, or be keep the ear from slipping endwise through the sleeve, of a metallic socket fixed in the oar and an adjustablelocking-pin in the sleeve, 15

registering with said socket, whereby the oar may be feathered at will at each stroke, or it may be fixed in its sleeve at a given angle of feathering, as shown and describeds 4. The thole-pin of a roWlock, having the 20 spiral end and straight body described, for the j purpose specified.

JOHN SNOWMAN. Witnesses: AZEL E. HOUGHTON,

BETSEY H. HOUGHTON. 

